NHL Thoughts At Midway Mark

With the unofficial first half of the season now done, its time to look at the first half of the NHL season and hand out the good and the bad.


BEST TEAM

There are many good teams out there including the two teams that battled it out for the Stanley Cup, but the best team right now has to be the Detroit Red Wings. This team continues to play at a high level of excellence when people wonder when age will start to catch up with them. They are unbeaten in 17 at home and Mike Babcock continues to get the best out of his squad.

MOST SURPRISING TEAM

If the St. Louis Blues had had Ken Hitchcock coaching them from the start of the year, they might be the best team in the NHL. Hitchcock has taken this team of no-names (can you name 8 Blues) and has them right in the thick of the race for the NHL's best team overall as he has gone 23-6-7 since taking over.

MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM

I am really tempted to say the Edmonton Oilers since they are once again floundering near the bottom of the NHL standings in a year where I thought (especially after their good start) that they would be a playoff team again. However, I am going to give the honour to the Buffalo Sabres. When you pick them to win the Cup at the start of the season (nice pick idiot), you have to go with them. Ryan Miller has been terrible and the rest of the team hasn't been that much better. I thought they were ready to take a run for the Cup. I was wrong! Right now, they are 26th in the league and have won just two of their last 10. There's no sign that this team is going to improve either. I would expect them to be trading a lot of assets before and at the trade deadline. Don't be surprised if Miller is one of them.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Hands down, my vote would go to Evgeni Malkin. Without Sidney Crosby in the lineup, the Penguins haven't suffered thanks to Malkin who leads the league with 58 points.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

If its not Alexander Ovechkin who is it. As I said to Rod Pedersen on the Sportscage Tuesday, Ovie hasn't been himself since the Russians were clubbed by the Canadians at the Vancouver Olympics. His game has seemingly left him. The team got rid of Bruce Boudreau, but even that didn't bring his game back. What will?

BEST DEFENCEMAN

This is tough because there are so many good ones out there, but Nick Lidstrom leads the way again. He just gets the job done night after night after night. Where does he fit in the equation of best defenceman ever? Its got to be top 5.

BEST GOALIE

Once again, there are many strong candidates, but I would lean towards Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers. He's been one of the best for years, but he has elevated his game this year with a goals against average of 1.87 and a save percentage of .937to go along with five shutouts.

BEST ROOKIE

As an Oilers fan, I am tempted to take Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but his injury has allowed Adam Henrique of the Devils to take over. Henrique started the year in the minors for some reason, but he has come on to post 34 points in 43 games. RNH still might take this at season's end as he comes back from injury, but right now I lean towards Henrique.

BEST COACH

Its hard to not take Hitchcock here, but he isn't a rookie behind the bench like Paul McLean is in Ottawa. The Senators go into the all-star break having lost their last three, but I don't think many thought Ottawa would have won 27 games going into the break. McLean has done a fabulous job in the nations capital.

STANLEY CUP FINALISTS

For pure entertainment value, I would love to see another Boston-Vancouver because those two teams just hate one another. I don't know if either will get back though. There are so many things that have to go right just to have a shot at being in the final for so many teams. I'll spin the wheel though and say when it comes down to it at the end it will be Chicago and the Rangers in an original six showdown with both teams beating other original sixers--Detroit and Boston to get in.